


freckles and constellations

by thirteenandyaz



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-10-13 12:48:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17488331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thirteenandyaz/pseuds/thirteenandyaz
Summary: a collection of thasmin oneshots inspired by “freckles and constellations” by dodie clark.(all chapter titles taken from the song!)





	1. i'll be yours to keep just take a leap cause this spaceship has a passenger seat

**Author's Note:**

> hello and welcome to my first series of oneshots! i can’t promise how often i’ll update but i’ll try my best :) hope you enjoy! (also i haven't watched classic who so any references to past companions/episodes in this chapter and future ones will only mention nuwho!)

Yaz sat cross legged in the doorway of the TARDIS, gazing with awe at the stars and planets all around her. As a child she had always been fascinated with space and, like many other children, had dreamed of being an astronaut. But never, not even in her craziest daydreams had she ever even considered that she would be seeing the universe from an old police box that was bigger on the inside and could travel through space and time with a beautifully mad alien who called herself the Doctor and Ryan Sinclair and his Grandad, of all people. The others were all asleep as far as she knew, but the idea of sleep just seemed crazy to her now. How could she, when she could be seeing the stars?

Her hand still tingled from the feeling of pressing it on top of the Doctor’s and helping her push the leaver, hearing the sound of the engines that, even after such a short amount of time in the TARDIS, brought her hope. Hope that she hadn’t felt in a very long time. Back home in Sheffield, she was stuck. Stuck with a job that simply wasn’t progressing, with a family that drove her insane. But now, she was more free than she had ever been. She could, quite literally, fly anywhere she wanted and see anything she wanted.

She shook her head slightly and chuckled quietly to herself, still unable to believe the crazy leap she had taken. She didn’t regret it though, not one bit. She knew it would be dangerous, the Doctor had made sure they all understood that. But Yaz had meant it, when she said she was sure. Being a police officer meant that the was in dangerous situations at home as well, so she figured the danger was more than worth it to see the sights of the universe.

Her mind drifted back to the moment that her and the others had agreed to travel with the Doctor. The smile on the alien’s face when she realised that they wanted to stay would remain in Yaz’s memory for a long, long time. The look of pure joy and happiness simply reaffirmed in Yaz’s mind that she had made the right choice. She had only known the other woman for a short while but they had already become impossibly close.

Yaz heard soft footsteps padding towards her and turned to see the very person that occupied her mind hovering slightly awkwardly behind her.

“Can I join you?” The Doctor asked, grinning at the sight before her, of her new best friend and the stars laid out before them both.

“Go on then,” Yaz replied, causing the Doctor’s grin to grow impossibly wider as she sat down next to Yaz rather ungracefully. She was pressed up against Yaz’s side and she grabbed the younger girl’s hand, making Yaz’s heart beat faster. It wasn’t the first time the pair had held hands, but it was the first time that the Doctor hadn’t grabbed Yaz’s hand just to pull her out of danger. It was the first time that Yaz let herself believe that perhaps it meant something more than just wanting to keep each other safe.

“Whatcha up to Yaz?” The Doctor asked, swinging her legs out into space. She never could sit still, Yaz had noticed. She guessed that if they weren’t holding hands right now the blonde woman would be frantically fiddling, either with her hands or some random piece of machinery that she would assure her definitely needed tinkering with.

“Thinking.” Yaz replied, somewhat absent-mindedly. “And looking.” She gestured at the galaxies sprawling out before her, quite literally a world away from the view from her bedroom window. “It’s beautiful.”

“It is.” The Doctor agreed, looking at the stars reflected in her friend’s eyes.

For a moment there was silence. Only the gentle hum of the TARDIS reminded Yaz where she was, that she wasn’t simply drifting aimlessly through space. Yaz glanced discreetly at her watch. The Doctor had eagerly explained to her earlier that her watch was now useless because time was relative in the TARDIS and all that, but it would still work for this purpose.

“Thinking about anything in particular?” The Doctor inevitably broke the silence. 63 seconds without a word. Pretty good for the Doctor, Yaz thought.

She waited another minute before replying.

“Earlier, when we invited ourselves back on board, you said that you ‘loved this bit.’ I’m guessing we’re not the first people you’ve had on board?”

She saw the Doctor’s smile drop slightly as she hesitated to answer Yaz. The younger girl diverted her gaze back to the stars, not wanting to pressure the Doctor into answering.

“You remember on the boat on Desolation when I told you about Time Lords and regeneration while the others were asleep?”

Yaz nodded. She was still trying to wrap her head the idea that the Doctor hadn’t always been her Doctor.

“Well this is my thirteenth me. My thirteenth face,” She pulled a face, “Well technically fourteenth but we don’t really talk about him.”

Yaz opened her mouth to question but the Doctor was in her flow now, and there was no way that Yaz could get a word in.

“Fourteen lifetimes is a long time, even for a time traveller. I lost count of how old I am a long time. Definitely more than two thousand. A lot more if you count the four billion years I was trapped by the Time Lords.”

“Four billion?” Yaz echoed, agast. “What did they do to you for four billion years?”

She felt the Doctor tense next to her and the grip on her hand tightened.

“That’s not important right now,” the Doctor brushed the question aside, her voice shaking slightly. “The point is, I’ve lived a long time, and that means I’ve loved and lost a lot of people. It’s the curse of the Time Lords. Watching the people you love age and die, while you just keep living on. I’ve travelled with a lot of people. Most recently Bill and before her Clara. Amy and Rory, Donna, Martha, Rose and plenty before them too. Then there were my friends who I didn’t travel with. Wilf, Jenny, Vastra, Jack, Mickey and,” She hesitated slightly before continuing. “My wife, River.”

Yaz could see the Doctor’s expression becoming more and more despondent with every name she listed. When she met the younger girl’s eyes once more Yaz could see tears glistening in those hazel eyes, and all of a sudden she was hit by just how old the Doctor’s eyes were. Those eyes had seen more than Yaz could ever imagine, and more than Yaz would ever see. She didn’t know how the Doctor stayed sane.

She hadn’t planned to dig any further but she couldn’t stop herself from asking the question that was burning on her tongue.

“What happened to them? How come you don’t travel with them anymore?”

The Doctor turned her gaze back to the stars that they were drifting past and exhaled shakily before answering. She could feel Yaz rubbing gentle circles onto the back of her hand, reminding her that she wasn’t alone.

“They all left. Not always by choice.” She took a deep breath before explaining further.

“Rose is in a parallel universe. She’s trapped there but she’s happy, she’s with her family and a different version of me. Martha chose to leave, she’s a soldier for UNIT now and she’s married. Donna is also back on Earth and married, but she had to leave. Something went wrong and she ended up with all of my thoughts inside her head. It was too much for her to physically handle so I had to make her forget me. If she ever remembers me, she’ll die. Amy and her husband, Rory were sent back in time by a species called the weeping angels. They’re dead now but they lived a long and happy life together. Clara died, but I saved her by trapping her in between heartbeats. She’s travelling in her own TARDIS now, travelling with her friend Ashildr. I forgot her for a while, long story, but I remember her now. Bill,” She hesitated slightly. “Bill died. Or at least I think she did. I saw her again, after she died but it was just her memories in a glass body. Just before I turned into me I ended up on my TARDIS and I’m still not quite sure how got there so maybe it was something to do with her. She always used to say that Heather, her sentient water girlfriend, would come back so you never know. And River... Well River and I have always been a bit complicated. We were married, but both of us being time travellers made it a bit confusing. Our timelines were going in opposite directions, so the more she knew about me, the less I knew about her. We never met in the right order which meant we never fully knew each other and we were never exclusive. She died the first time I met her, but she had already lived through our entire timeline. I managed to save her and upload her to the biggest library in the universe. She’s safe, but I’ll never be able see her again.”

The Doctor looked down at her lap, blinking tears back. Her spare hand clenched and unclenched in the fabric of her coat. Yaz watched her, tears threatening to spill from her own eyes.

“How do you do it?” Yaz whispered, her heart aching for the woman in front of her. “How do you carry on loving even when you loose the people you care about the most? And why do you do it? Why do you keep travelling with us humans if you know we’re inevitably going to hurt you?”

The Doctor looked at Yaz and smiled, a small, soft, genuine smile, the sort of smile that you couldn’t help but return.

“Because I’ve been told before that I should never travel alone. Loneliness brings out the worst in me, makes me do things I regret. Besides, this spaceship modt definitely has a passenger seat. Quite a few actually. Have I ever told you that the TARDIS is meant to be piloted by six people? That’s why I keep crashing her.”

Yaz chuckled, relieved to see the Doctor cheering up. The Doctor’s smile grew wider at the sight of her friend laughing. _This_ was why she travelled with humans. For moments like this, with the people she loved.

“All of time and space Yaz, and I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t important. I only travel with the best, and you Yasmin Khan, are one of the best people I’ve ever met,” She added, a mischievous glint in her eye as she imitated the younger girl’s words from earlier.

“Oi!” Yaz exclaimed, nudging the Doctor with her shoulder. “Don’t make me regret saying that.”

“Even if you do you’ve said it now, no going back,” the Doctor remarked cheekily, jumping up and pulling Yaz with her, dragging the laughing girl behind her.

“Right! I think it’s time we go on our first proper adventure as team TARDIS. Your choice Yaz. All of time and space, where do you want to go?”

Yaz gazed around the console room, the warm orange glow already feeling like home. The gentle hum of the TARDIS felt like a comfort blanket and through the still open doors Yaz could see the constellations surrounding them, beckoning her forwards with the promise of more. Finally she looked at the woman in front of her, who she had only known for a few days but had somehow come to care for more than anyone else in the universe. She beamed at the Doctor, making her decision.

“Surprise me.” She answered simply.

The Doctor’s smile grew impossibly wider.

“Oh Yaz. Always.”


	2. we're intergalactic, with thoughts full of static

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the doctor's attempt to take yaz on a date goes badly wrong, resulting in some dangerous consequences...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm quite proud of this one so i hope you enjoy it :)

“Kastesia III, the year 3838! One of the most beautiful leisure planets in the universe, in arguably what was its golden age.”

 

Yaz watched as her girlfriend scrambled around the TARDIS console with a strange air of organised chaos and somehow a sense of gracefulness. Ryan had often said that the Doctor danced with the TARDIS, and at times like this she could see what he meant. It was fascinating to see the Doctor pulling a lever here, pushing a button there and somehow sending them spiralling through space and time.

 

“You’ll love Kastesia, Yaz! The two suns light up the entire planet in a golden glow. There are cliffs made entirely of crystal and the most incredible pink sea. It’s probably one of the friendliest planets I’ve ever visited, and home to one of my favourite restaurants. Nothing but the best for my Yaz!” The Doctor winked cheekily at Yaz before turning her attention back to the controls before her.

 

Yaz blushed slightly before retaliating. “It sounds brilliant love, but can you actually get us there?” She teased, remembering the disastrous attempts to get them back to Sheffield after they had first met.

 

“Oi!” The Doctor exclaimed with mock indignance. She turned to face Yaz, who was leaning casually against one of the pillars, smirking at her girlfriend. “We’ve always got where we need to go! I can fly her perfectly well thank you very much.” She pulled a final lever, creating the familiar vworping sound and sending the pair spiralling into the time vortex.

 

“See!” She sauntered over the Yaz, her arms crossed. Now it was her turn to smirk at the younger girl. Yaz grinned up at her. “Admit it. I’m good.”

 

Yaz opened her mouth to reply but she was interrupted by the TARDIS giving a sudden lurch. They were no longer speeding calmly through the vortex to their destination, they were being thrown around violently. The Doctor threw herself back towards the console, desperately trying to regain control of her ship.

 

“We seem to have hit something that sent us spiralling off course. It’s not the TARDIS taking us somewhere, but I can’t seem to control her,” The Doctor pulled a screen towards her and peered at the display, her brow knitted in confusion. “I can’t figure out where we’re going.” She muttered, worry growing ever more prominent on her face.

 

“What were you saying about being good?” Yaz tried to joke, but any humour in the situation was ruined as the TARDIS gave another violent lurch, sending Yaz tumbling to the floor.

 

“Yaz!” The Doctor exclaimed, rushing over to help her up. “Are you ok?”

 

Yaz accepted the hand up, smiling reassuringly at the Doctor.

 

“I’m fine, love. Your landing isn't though," she teased, laughing at the nose scrunch she got in retaliation. "Have we even landed?” The Doctor bit her lip and looked back at the screens.

 

“We’ve landed alright. The only issue is, we’re not on Kastesia. We’re on a tiny dwarf planet right at the edge of the universe. I’ve never visited because nothing’s ever really happened here,” She puzzled out loud. “Hopefully the TARDIS isn’t damaged and we can try to actually get to Kastesia this time.”

 

Yaz sidled over to the doors and opened them a crack, peering at the barren landscape outside. “While we’re here we might as well have an explore though right?” Yaz asked, a grin wide appearing on her face. “Especially if you’ve never been here before! It can’t hurt anyway.”

 

The Doctor joined her girlfriend, a definite skip in her step.

 

“Yasmin Khan, I like your thinking.” She held out a hand which Yaz took happily, giggling as the Doctor pulled them out of the door.

  

* * *

 

The laughter died as they stepped out of the TARDIS door and took in the scene before them. The sun was bright, but not the warm brightness that Yaz was used to back in Sheffield. Instead the sun cast a harsh glow across the barren landscape, emphasising the rocky cliff faces that rose above them. The TARDIS had landed in a wide, open, rocky plain bordering a large forest. Yaz thought she could see chimney smoke rising from beyond the forest, but the first thing that struck her was the quietness. The silence was almost deafening, the loudest thing Yaz could hear was the sound of the Doctor fidgeting beside her.

 

“Ah. Not exactly where I intended our first proper date to be,” The Doctor mused, her face scrunching into a frown as she surveyed their surroundings. “Still, now that we’re here...” She trailed off, giving her girlfriend a hopeful grin.

 

“You want to explore,” Yaz finished, a smile forming on her face at the hope on the Doctor’s. Her optimism was contagious and Yaz loved her for it.

 

The Doctor hurried towards the forest, with Yaz jogging slightly to keep up. How the Doctor always seemed to be overflowing with energy she didn’t know. Suddenly something caught Yaz’s attention out of the corner of her eye. She tugged slightly on the Doctor’s coat, and she turned around to face her.

 

“Doctor, over there,” She pointed, and the Doctor followed her gaze. “Is that a child?”

 

The Doctor squinted at the small figure, huddled alone. “It looks like it. But why would there be a child alone here?”

 

Yaz grabbed the Doctor’s hand and pulled her slowly towards the child, not wanting to startle them. As they got closer Yaz could see that is was in fact a young girl. She appeared to be about eight and she was sat in tattered clothing. Yaz let go of the Doctor and gently knelt down to face the girl. The Doctor hung back slightly, happy to let her girlfriend’s police training take over. She subtly slipped her sonic out of her pocket and began to scan the girl.

 

“Hey sweetheart?” Yaz began. The girl flinched and her head shot up as if she thought she was looking at her, but in reality she was staring at the sky. Yaz frowned but continued. “Are you hurt?”

 

The girl flinched again and mumbled something under her breath that the police officer couldn’t make out.

 

“Sweetheart, I can’t hear you. Where are your parents?”

 

“Dead... Dead they’re all dead but I’m not” She mumbled, still hardly audible.

 

Yaz’s heart broke as the girl buried her face in her knees, clearly terrified.

 

“Do you have any other family? Friends? Anyone we can help you find?” The police officer forced herself to keep her voice steady and quiet, not wanting to startle the petrified child before her.

 

She shook her head and continued to mutter under her breath, repeating the same word, over and over again. Dead. Dead. Dead.

 

Yaz looked back at the Doctor but she was staring at the results on the sonic, her face screwed up in apparent frustration.

 

Suddenly Yaz heard a scuffle behind her and saw the girl scrambling to her feet, tripping and stumbling as she ran away from the pair. Yaz made to follow her but the Doctor placed a gentle hand on her forearm, keeping her still. "There’s nothing we can do Yaz,” The Doctor explained, her voice uncharacteristically solemn. “She’s human. You lot aren’t meant to get this far from Earth, ever. If she’s here, something’s seriously wrong and we can’t risk interfering before we figure out what it is.”

 

“But you always interfere!” Yaz exclaimed, staring at the Doctor incredulously. She was struck by the overwhelming lack of joy in the eyes she had grown to know so well.

 

“Not this time. We can’t risk endangering the whole human race.”

 

Yaz could see the pain in the Doctor’s eyes, the same pain she saw after walking from Prem, the pain that Yaz remembered from when the Doctor thought she and the others were going to leave after Montgomery. The pain of the Doctor knowing that there was nothing she could do.

 

Yaz stood on her tiptoes and gently kissed the Doctor on her forehead, cupping her cheek.

 

“Hey. We’ll be ok. I’m with you remember?” The Doctor smiled down at her, nodding slightly.

 

“‘Course we will.” The Doctor’s grin grew slightly, her familiar joy creeping back in. “Now, how do you fancy trekking through a slightly scary looking forest?”

 

* * *

 

Yaz shook her head in disbelief as the Doctor picked up a leaf, soniced it before hesitantly licking it. She scrunched up her nose and dropped it, confusion written all over her face.

 

“It just seems like a normal forest!” She exclaimed, exasperated. “How can it just be a normal forest? I never know what to do when there’s no evil plan.”

 

Yaz laughed at the disappointment in the Doctor’s tone. “You know not everything has to be trying to kill us? The girl back there could just be an orphan who ran away from somewhere.”

 

The Doctor shook her head. “But she was human. How did she get here? Human’s never get this far out, if they did it would be recorded somewhere, and I’d know about it.”

 

The Doctor carried on ahead, mumbling under her breath and scanning everything within reach. Yaz trudged along behind her, smiling somewhat exasperatedly. They turned a corner and suddenly the Doctor stopped, causing Yaz to crash into her back.

 

“Doctor?” Yaz asked, making to peer around her shoulder, but the Doctor whipped around and grabbed Yaz’s arm, trying to turn her around. She succeeded, but not before Yaz caught sight of the three bodies strewn across the path.

 

“Oh…” Yaz breathed, trailing off. She pulled out of the Doctor’s grip and bent down, feeling for a pulse in the wrist of the first body, a woman who appeared to be in her mid-thirties. When she found no sign of life, she quickly checked for pulses in the other bodies, a man and a young boy. Choking back a sob she turned to the Doctor and shook her head. _Dead_. A word she had thought about far too much that day.

 

The Doctor dropped down to Yaz’s side and pulled her sonic from the inside of her coat. She quickly scanned over the bodies and frowned at the results.

 

“Suffocation,” She breathed. “The sonic says they’ve all been suffocated but there’s no sign of any struggle on their bodies, it doesn’t look like they were strangled. All three of them are human but there’s clearly enough oxygen in the air, otherwise you and I wouldn’t be here. This doesn’t make any sense!” She turned away from the bodies and began to pace, running a hand through her hair in frustration.

 

A horrible thought struck Yaz as she gazed at the family. “Doctor, you don’t think they were the family of that girl we met, do you?”

 

The Doctor ceased her pacing as she turned to look at her girlfriend. A sad look, almost like helplessness was written all over her face. “I don’t know Yaz. All I know is that something is seriously wrong here and we need to figure out what it is.” She paused, looking down at her scuffed brown boots and fiddling with the hem of her coat, almost as if she was ashamed. “I’m sorry Yaz.”

 

The younger girl opened her mouth to protest, to argue that she had done nothing wrong, but the Doctor powered on, hardly stopping for breath.

 

“I’m sorry that you had to see this. I’m sorry that this isn’t the perfect date I had planned for us. I’m sorry because you deserve the whole universe, and I should be able to give it to you and yet I just keep on pulling you into danger.”

 

Yaz stepped forward and gently placed her hand underneath the Doctor’s chin, encouraging her to look up at her. “Listen to me Doctor. None of this is your fault. I don’t mind that this isn’t Kastesia. We have a time machine, we can go there another time. As for the whole universe thing, you are giving me the universe. If I hadn’t met you I would still be stuck in Sheffield, sorting out parking disputes. I was stuck, I wasn't progressing, I was lonely, and you gave me a whole new life. I don’t care where we are, I’m just happy to spend time with you.”

 

The Doctor leant forwards and kissed Yaz, gently, softly, before pulling away and taking hold of her hand. “Somehow you make everything seem alright,” she whispered with a grin. “Now, onwards?”

 

* * *

 

“Well this is rather picturesque!” The Doctor exclaimed as they emerged into a small village, gazing around at the small cottages, with chimney smoke rising from the roofs and a warm glow coming from the windows. “Only issue is, where is everyone?”

 

Yaz remained silent, which was unlike her. “Yaz?” The Doctor prompted, noticing the almost dazed expression on her girlfriend’s face. Yaz blinked and refocused her vision of the Doctor, reaching up to rub her head absentmindedly.

 

“Sorry,” she murmured. “I think I’ve got a migraine coming on or something.”

 

The Doctor rubbed gentle, comforting circles onto the back of her hand. “Just a quick look round here and then we’ll head back to the TARDIS,” the Doctor promised. “Can’t have Yaz in pain can we!”

 

Yaz smiled slightly and let the Doctor drag her down the street, sonic out in front of her as ever. At the sight of a figure huddled underneath a tree the Doctor let go of her hand and ran forward, her coat flapping behind her, leaving Yaz to follow suit. As they got closer they could see that the figure appeared human, or would have if it weren’t for the horns that appeared to be made out of flowers protruding from their forehead.

 

“Hello!” The Doctor exclaimed, kindly. The figure flinched, their head shooting up at the unexpected disturbance. The Doctor knelt down so as not to scare them before continuing, quieter this time. “I’m the Doctor, and this is my girlfriend Yaz.” Yaz waved slightly from behind the Doctor and the creature waved back with a slight smile. “We’re here to help,” the Doctor continued. “Could you tell us who you are?”

 

“I’m Ness,” they said shyly. “I live here.”

 

“Ness!” The Doctor exclaimed. “Brilliant! Do you think you could tell us what’s going on?”

 

Ness glanced around the deserted street nervously before nodding slightly. “It started a week ago, when the people calling themselves humans arrived,” they began hesitantly. “They seemed nice and harmless, and seeing as there aren’t many of us left, we figured they could share our planet. It had only been an hour after they arrived that the first one died. After that they began to drop like flies. First it would just be a headache. Then blindness, memory loss and finally death. We don’t know what it is, and now most of us are too scared to leave our houses.”

 

“But none of you are affected? There hasn’t been any noticeable change to the planet?” The Doctor questioned, furrowing her brow and scrunching her nose in confusion.

 

“Nope,” Ness shrugged. “I’ve been outside every day and I’m fine.”

 

The Doctor nodded distractedly before closing her eyes and hitting the side of her head, as if that would help her to figure something out. She began to pace and Yaz and Ness could only watch as she puzzled things through.

 

“Come on Doctor,” she murmured to herself. “It’s right there, painfully obvious. It’s staring me in the face. It’s on the tip of my tongue, it’s-“

 

Moments passed with Ness and Yaz stood in confused silence as the Doctor mumbled to herself, occasionally stopping to scan their surroundings. Yaz's headache was growing worse and worse and her vision was blurring. She was just about to call for the Doctor but suddenly, the Doctor stopped and gasped, a manic grin forming on her face.

 

“It’s in the air!” She exclaimed loudly, making Ness flinch again. “Sorry!” She apologised, her voice quieter now. “Blimey I can be stupid sometimes! Of course it’s in the air. When Yaz and I found those bodies, we said there was enough oxygen but it isn’t the oxygen that’s the problem! It’s whatever else is in the air! And like an idiot I didn’t think of that and-“

 

She was cut off by a quiet sob behind her and she whipped around in time to see Yaz clutching her head, eyes screwed shut, gasping for breath. The Doctor rushed to her side and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Yaz flinched away from the contact, recoiling in fear. Her breathing grew heavier as she opened her eyes and stared blankly into the distance.

 

“Yaz?” The Doctor asked gently, her voice cracking slightly. “Yaz it’s me.”

 

“Doctor I can’t see,” Yaz cried, her hands reaching out as grasping at the air. The Doctor slowly touched her hands, making sure Yaz knew she wasn’t in any danger, and took hold of them, grounding the terrified girl. “My head hurts, I can’t breathe, I don’t know where I am, I-“ She was cut off with a sob and the Doctor could feel tears welling up in her own eyes.

 

“Yaz listen to me.” The Doctor said, quietly, gently. “I know you’re terrified but I need you to stay calm. You’ll be alright once we get off this planet. I’ll guide you back to the TARDIS and we’ll get you safe. The TARDIS and I will look after you. I just need you to trust me.”

 

Yaz nodded slightly, breathing heavily. The Doctor placed a kiss on her forehead before glancing back at Ness, who had been watching the scene with fear in their eyes. “Ness, I’m sorry but I don’t think there’s anything I can do to help. There’s a reason that it was never recorded that humans settle here. They’ll all be dead soon. I’m sorry, I wish there was something I could do but I can’t, not without risking making the planet inhabitable for you. What I need you to do is spread the word to your people that it’s safe for you all here, nothing has changed, this planet just isn’t safe for humans. Bury the dead and look after the dying until they pass.”

 

Ness nodded in understanding, their eyes set with determination. “Thank you, Doctor. I will.” They hesitated slightly, watching Yaz struggle to remain conscious. “I hope Yaz is ok.”

 

The Doctor nodded grimly. “She will be. I’m sorry I can’t help more Ness, but it’s clear the planet is in good hands.”

 

Ness smiled before running off, presumably to spread the word. The Doctor turned her attention back to Yaz. In the brief moment that the Doctor had been talking to Ness her state had deteriorated. Her eyes were screwed up once more and her breathing was somehow more laboured than before, and the Doctor could tell she was losing consciousness fast. She squeezed her hands gently making Yaz flinch once more.

 

“Yaz it’s ok,” the Doctor almost whispered, “I’m going to get you back to the TARDIS now, yeah?”

 

“Who’s Yaz?” Came the dazed reply.

 

With that, the Doctor’s hearts crumbled, not just for her girlfriend before her, but for the memories of those who had had to forget her or visa versa. She shook her head to clear her mind before replying softly. “You’re Yaz, love. The best police officer in the universe, the kindest, most intelligent, most caring soul I know and my amazing girlfriend.” Tears were falling down her own face now, as she watched the girl she loved struggle to breathe, confused and barely conscious.

 

“Doctor?” Yaz asked hopefully, before her eyes fluttered shut and she slumped against the Doctor. The Doctor quickly checked her pulse, relieved to hear the thump of her heart, albeit faint and sluggish. She pulled her sonic out and held it up, pleading in her mind. She knew the TARDIS hated being summoned like this, but she also knew that she didn’t have time to carry Yaz all the way back through the forest.

 

She let out a sob of relief as she heard the familiar thrum of the engines and the TARDIS materialised around them. “Thank you old girl,” she whispered, gathering Yaz into her arms and placing her onto the purple sofa that they, along with the help of Ryan had managed to squeeze through the doors a few weeks earlier. She shrugged off her coat and tucked it over Yaz before rushing back to the console and sending them spiralling back to Sheffield.

 

* * *

 

She had only landed for a few moments, just enough time to check Yaz’s pulse (which was thankfully beginning to even out), before a series of loud knocks echoed through the TARDIS. She pulled open the doors to reveal a slightly disgruntled Ryan and Graham.

 

“Seriously Doc, again? That’s the second chair in two months!” Graham’s mock annoyance died as soon as he saw the state his friend was in. Her eyes were red, and her blonde hair was a mess. She was wringing her hands together anxiously and Ryan noticed that she kept glancing behind her into the TARDIS.

 

“Doctor?” Ryan asked hesitantly. “Where’s Yaz?”

 

The Doctor bit her lip before stepping aside and letting the rest of her fam into the TARDIS. Their eyes instantly landed on Yaz, who was lying still on the sofa. A chair has been placed at her side, and Ryan knew that the Doctor wouldn’t leave Yaz’s side until she woke up. Despite the state she had been in before getting back to the TARDIS, Yaz looked peaceful, a small smile on her lips and her chest was rising and falling steadily.

 

“What happened Doc? Is she ok?” Graham asked, quietly but urgently.

 

“I thought you two were going on a date! How’d she end up getting hurt?” Ryan added, smirking at the slight panic on the Doctor’s face when he called it a date. The couple hadn’t technically told Ryan and Graham that they were together but it was obvious at this point, even if Yaz and the Doctor thought they were being subtle.

 

She tried to protest that it wasn’t a date, and the only reason they had gone off alone was so that Ryan and Graham could have some family bonding time but one look from the others had her caving and sighing deeply before explaining what happened.

 

“Fine. I was trying to take Yaz to one of my favourite restaurants on the planet Kastesia III. Only problem was, something hit the TARDIS while we were in the vortex and somehow we got knocked off course.” She quickly filled them in on the rest of their adventure, explaining what had happened to Yaz and what Ness had helped her to figure out.

 

“Were you able to help the humans on the planet?” Ryan questioned, his heart aching at the thought of leaving human beings on a dangerous planet to die.

 

The Doctor looked up at Ryan and he could see the regret clear as day in her eyes. That look alone was answer enough, but the Doctor still answered him. “No. Even if Yaz hadn’t been hurt, I still wouldn’t have been able to do anything. Humans aren’t meant to get that far away from Earth. If I had saved any of them it would have dramatically altered human history and could have had devastating consequences. We had to leave.”

 

Graham placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and she smiled up at him. It hadn’t taken long for Graham to take up his role as everybody’s Grandad, even if the Doctor had argued that she was thousands of years older than him and used to be a Grandad herself. “Will Yaz be alright now Doc?” He asked, watching as the Doctor settled back into her chair at Yaz’s bedside.

 

“She will be,” the Doctor smiled softly down as her. “Now that we’re off the planet it can’t affect her anymore. She’s just sleeping now. She’ll likely be confused and a bit scared when she wakes up but she’ll be just fine.”

 

Ryan and Graham smiled, not only at the fact that Yaz would be ok, but at the expression of pure love on the Doctor’s face. _You could tell how much she loved her,_ Graham thought fondly.

 

“We’ll leave you to it then Doc,” he said quietly. “Let you two have some space. Let us know if you need anything.”

 

The Doctor smiled and nodded slightly before turning her full attention back to Yaz.

 

* * *

 

Three hours later the Doctor was still sat in her chair, sipping her tea and listening to the comforting hum of the TARDIS engines. This was the fifth cup of tea that Ryan had brought to her, and she had lost count of how many custard creams she had eaten. The Doctor could tell that each time Ryan and Graham had reentered the console room they were surprised to find her still sat down. Normally she’d be tinkering with something that, according to her, despirately needed fixing or running around doing something or other. Now though, the Doctor waited. She didn’’t want to risk not being there when Yaz awoke.

 

Suddenly she heard a quiet groan from Yaz as the younger girl began to stir. She opened her eyes and blinked up at the Doctor, as if her eyes were still fuzzy from loosing sight and then sleeping.

 

“Yaz!” The Doctor exclaimed, her voice still hushed. She rushed forwards to help Yaz into a sitting position. Yaz flinched away from the contact at first, breathing heavily. Her mind was confused, the last thing she remembered was passing out in a forest, but somehow she wasn’t completely sure that that had actually happened. “Are you ok Yaz? Can you see me? Do you know where we are?” The Doctor, was more concerned now, worried that Yaz had ben exposed to the air for too long and it had had a lasting effect.

 

Yaz took a couple of deep breaths, clearing her head and steading her breathing before sleepily reaching out for her girlfriend’s hand. “I’m ok, love. A bit of a headache still, but nothing that some more sleep won’t fix. And yes, I can see you, and yes, I know where we are. Just a bit confused, that’s all.”

 

The Doctor smiled slightly before pulling Yaz into an enthusiastic hug. She stroked Yaz’s hair, murmuring softly in her ear. “I was so worried Yaz. I’m so, so sorry. How much do you remember?” She asked, her voice shaking slightly.

 

Yaz tightened her grip on the Doctor, running her hands up and down her back softly. She let herself dissolve into the hug, desperate for the comfort and reassurance that being near her girlfriend brought. “It’s not your fault,” she whispered. “Besides, I’m alright now. I’m pretty sure I remember it all though.” She tensed slightly and the Doctor dropped a soft kiss in her hair. “It wasn’t particularly pleasant, I can tell you that.”

 

The Doctor pulled out of the hug but remained close, holding onto Yaz’s hands. “I love you, Yaz,” she said, softly but seriously, “I’m never letting you go through anything like that again, I promise.”

 

“I love you too,” she smiled, letting the moment linger before grinning widely. “Now, I need a good night’s sleep and then I believe you owe me a date?”

 

“Oh of course,” the Doctor beamed, happy to settle back into their normal, easy teasing now that she was satisfied that Yaz would be ok. “Kastesia here we come!”

 

Yaz nodded approvingly. “And you’ll actually get us there this time?” She teased, remembering the conversation from earlier that day.

 

“Oi! Yes I will, thank you very much!” She exclaimed with mock indignance. “Now you,” she said, her voice soft but stern, “Sleep! You could have died today, and anyway, we can’t have a date with a tired Yaz.”

 

Yaz laughed sleepily, pushing herself off the sofa and heading in the direction of her bedroom. “You coming?” She asked, holding out a hand for the Doctor to take.

 

“Of course.” She replied, taking Yaz’s hand and following her.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! comments, kudos and feedback are always appreciated :) new chapter will hopefully be up soon! <3

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!! comments, feedback and kudos are always appreciated and if you have any prompts feel free to send them to me on tumblr, @thirteenandyaz or comment them below :) i've already written the second chapter (a more creative hurt/comfort fic) so i'll update within the next couple of days!


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